In its own way, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is forging history. Santosh Yadav, a renowned climber, has been invited to be the chief guest at the RSS’s annual Dussehra celebration in Nagpur, the organisation said on Thursday. The organization has never before in its 97-year history invited a woman to be the event’s chief guest.
The event will take place in Nagpur’s Reshmibagh Maidan on October 5 and be officially opened by RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat.
The annual Vijayadashami festival of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh will be held in Nagpur on October 5, 2022. The chief guest in this festival will be the eminent mountaineer Padma Shri Smt. Santosh Yadav ji and the speech of His Holiness Sarsanghchalak Dr. Mohanji Bhagwat. pic.twitter.com/H720QwuYBn
— RSS (@RSSorg) September 15, 2022
The Sangh was started on this day in 1925 by Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, hence the yearly event is seen as being highly significant for the RSS. The speech made by Mohan Bhagwat on the occasion is crucial and closely watched by many since it explains the RSS’s agenda for the coming year as well as its positions on a number of different subjects.
Who Is Santosh Yadav?
Santosh Yadav, 54, a native of Haryana’s Rewari district and the Joniyawas village, became the first woman to climb Mount Everest twice in 1992 and 1993.
She was the youngest person to attempt mountain climb when she started in 1992. Not only that, but she was the first woman to ascend Mount Everest’s eastern-facing Kangshung face, one of the Chinese sides, from its 29,035-foot height.
She became a climber entirely by accident, according to Yadav. She has been cited as claiming that because it was customary at the time, her family wanted her to get married when she was just 14 years old. But she made the choice to remain at a hostel in Jaipur and went on with her studies.
She continues by saying that the view of the Aravalli range from her hostel room fascinated her and inspired her to become proficient in mountaineering.
She proceeded with her training despite being told by her professors at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarkashi that she had “small lungs” and was underweight, according to an article in The Hindu.
Yadav, who was 20 at the time, started her ascent of Mount Everest in 1992 and became the youngest person to do so by successfully completing it from the challenging Kangshung Pass.
She also exhibited tremendous courage and tenacity during her climb. She made an effort to save the lives of two mountain climbers who had passed out from a lack of oxygen. While she was unable to recover one climber, Mohan Singh, the other climber, was revived thanks to Yadav sharing her oxygen with him.
She continued to be obsessed with the mountain and attempted another ascent of it in 1993, this time with an Indo-Nepalese team.
Yadav received India’s highest adventure sports honour, the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award, in 1994 for her numerous contributions to the Indian climbing community.
She also received the Padma Shri award for her accomplishments in March 2000.
In honour of her exceptional accomplishment, the Haryana government named a highly busy route in Gurugram after her in 2006.